The potential of Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA) for
non-destructive quantitative investigation of archaeological objects at a pulsed neutron spallation source was studied. Experiments were performed on the ROTAX
time-of-flight diffractometer of the ISIS neutron source on a chalcolithic copper axe, a limestone sample from the ancient Quarry of Masarah (Egypt), a Roman bronze fibula and two fragments of glass from the Roman Villa Adriana. For reference and comparison, measurements were also performed at the PGAA station of the Budapest research reactor. It is found that the performance of a PGAA analysis
at a pulsed source, with a make-shift set-up on an instrument designed for diffraction studies, cannot match the achievable results at a dedicated PGAA facility at a reactor source. However, the possibility of performing different investigations, e.g., neutron diffraction for structure analysis and PGAA for elemental analysis, at a single facility on one and the same object remains attractive and offers useful applications in the field of cultural heritage
